May 22, 2009 I had surgery with Dr. Kanayama on March 19th of this year. Prior to seeking out Dr. Kanayama’s help I had been looking for answers for my extremely painful, irregular periods and symptoms that persisted even when I was not menstruating. All the other OB/Gyns that I saw dismissed this pain and these symptoms as a natural part of being a woman in my 40s (I am 46) and put me on birth control pills. These pills would work in terms of pain relief for a time, but then stop working. I, unlike many of the people who seek out Dr. Kanayama’s services, had not had any prior surgeries for endometriosis and only a provisional diagnosis of the disease. My other doctor described endometriosis as nothing to really worry about. I felt strongly that there was something very wrong going on and was concerned about my increasing symptoms and the negative effect they were having on my day-to-day life. I also felt that being on the hormones was a band-aid for treating what seemed to be a disease that is not well understood by regular OBGyns. I went on the internet looking for answers and found out about excision surgery, which seemed to be the most logical approach to surgery for this disease as opposed to the laser technique that most OB/Gyns use. I then found Dr. Kanayama and felt very lucky to have found someone who performed this surgery in my area. Within two minutes of Dr. Kanayama’s examination he told me I had endometriosis and it was in a very sensitive area, pressing on the tendon that is attached to my urethra. This explained the increasing pain I felt when I needed to urinate. He also told me I had chocolate cysts, which are associated with endometriosis, on both my ovaries. My previous doctor had dismissed these as functional cysts. Dr. Kanayama did the surgery and discovered that I had severe endometriosis (stage 4) that had begun to invade my urethra. He said it was not uncommon for women who had this presentation to eventually lose their kidney. He removed all of the endometriosis that he could see. I am now 9 weeks post-op. I have no pelvic pain and had a very smooth recovery. Compared to the pain of the endo the recuperation from surgery was easy. The incisions were tiny and I was up and moving around quickly. I took 2 weeks off from work and was able to resume exercise by the 4th week. I cannot say enough about Dr. Kanayama, Sabrina, and the entire staff at Greenwich Hospital. They were all a pleasure to deal with. As I have learned more about endometriosis since my surgery and found out how misunderstood and mistreated this disease is, I realize how integral Dr. Kanayama’s knowledge, expertise, and compassion were to me finally finding real answers and treatment for this disease. For this I will be forever grateful. Sincerely, Nancy W. |